March 7, 2008

BOSTON - Navy's Adam Meyer (So./Bethesda, Md.) and Erik Hunter (Fr./Placerville, Calif.) each smashed a school record to lead the Midshipmen a fourth-place standing after the second day of the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League (EISL) Championship at Harvard's Blodgett Pool on Friday.

The Midshipmen own 607.5 points after the second day, trailing only Yale's 623 points, Princeton's 801.5 points and Harvard's 1,039 points.

"I am real happy with the efforts put forth today. All of our swimmers were able to hold and score a lot of points for us," stated Navy head coach Bill Roberts. "Our guys were able to step up this morning and helped keep it real tight with Yale."

Meyer broke the school record in the 400-yard individual medley during the morning session, as he led all swimmers with a blistering 3:52.76 clocking. The effort was good enough to meet the NCAA 'B' standard in the event and topped his previous school-record time of 3:54.33 set at the 2007 Patriot League Championship. The Navy sophomore came back to place second in the 'A' heat finals with a 3:53.00 showing, the second-best time in program history.

With the help of Meyer, Navy totaled 70 points in the 400-yard individual medley. Patrick Veltman (Fr./Midlothian, Va.) finished eighth in the 'A' finals with a time of 4:00.18, while Jesse Cohen (Fr./Mountain Lakes, N.J.) bested all competitors in the 'B' finals with his 3:58.45 performance.

Meyer also swam with Andrew Hetzner (So./Riverside, Calif.), Ari Molina (Jr./Arlington, Va.) and Alex Oldenkamp (Jr./Coppell, Texas) in the Navy 200-yard medley relay that placed sixth in the finals with a time of 1:32.03. That effort ranks as the seventh-fastest mark in program history.

Hunter also delivered a record-setting performance for the Midshipmen in the 1,000-yard freestyle. He finished fifth in the timed finals on Friday night with a time of 9:10.98, 7.62 seconds better than the previous effort of 9:18.60 by Sumner Rollings that had stood since the 2000 EISL Championship.

"Erik Hunter really got us going tonight with his efforts in the 1,000 freestyle," said Roberts. "It was a well sum race with even splits the entire way."

The 100-yard breaststroke proved to be another strong scoring event for the Midshipmen, as four swimmers racked up 67 points. Kevin Kysiak (Sr./Western Springs, Ill.) led all Navy participants with a third-place time of 56.57 seconds in the 'A' final, which ranks as the eighth-best mark in school history. Molina also swam in the 'A' final with Kysiak, placing sixth with a 56.94-second clocking. Oldenkamp finished eighth in the 'B' final with a 58.99-second showing and Mike Lowhorn (Sr./St. Louis, Mo.) came in fourth during the 'C' final with a time of 58.97 seconds.

The Mids also had a solid showing on the three-meter diving board, as three of their own will finish among the top-12 competitors. Olaf Olson (Fr./Bainbridge Island, Wash.) will partake in the `A' finals tomorrow after producing a second-place 311.4-point showing during the morning session. In the consolation finals during in the evening, Jon Galinski (Jr./Phoenix, Md.) landed third with 279.00 points and Adam Niekras (Sr./Liverpool, N.Y.) followed in fourth place with 271.15 points.

Navy ended the night in fine fashion with the 800-yard freestyle relay. The quartet of James Lascara (So./Charlotte, N.C.), Hetzner, Jack Curran (So./Silver Spring, Md.) and Christopher Jenkins (Sr./Chicago, Ill.) placed fifth with the third-fastest time in school history, a 6:42.00 clocking.

The Midshipmen will conclude the three-day EISL Championship tomorrow, starting with the prelims at 11 a.m., and finishing with the finals at 6 p.m.

Navy's Evening Results
200 Medley Relay
A Final - Navy, 6th - 1:32.03 (Andrew Hetzner, Ari Molina, Adam Meyer, Alex Oldenkamp)

1000 Freestyle
Timed Finals - Erik Hunter, 5th, 9:10.98; Sam Martinette, 17th, 9:27.62

400 Individual Medley
A Final - Adam Meyer, 2nd, 3:53.00; Patrick Veltman, 8th, 4:00.18
B Final - Jesse Cohen, 1st (9th), 3:58.45

100 Butterfly
C Final - Andrew Hetzner, 4th (20th), 50.49

200 Freestyle
A Final - Chris Jenkins, 7th, 1:39.47
B Final - Jack Curran, 1st (9th), 1:40.36

100 Breaststroke
A Final - Kevin Kysiak, 3rd, 56.57; Ari Molina, 6th, 56.94
B Final - Alex Oldenkamp, 8th (16th), 58.99
C Final - Mike Lowhorn, 4th (20th), 58.97

100 Backstroke
C Final - Andrew Hetzner, 1st (17th), 51.41; Preston Mihalko, t-7th (t-23rd), 53.19

800 Freestyle Relay
Timed Finals - Navy, 5th - 6:42.00 (James Lascara, Andrew Hetzner, Jack Curran, Chris Jenkins)

Three-Meter Diving
Consolation Finals - Jon Galinski, 3rd (11th), 279.00; Adam Niekras, 4th (12th), 271.15

Team Scores
1. Harvard, 1039; 2. Princeton, 801.5; 3. Yale, 623; 4. Navy, 607.5; 5. Columbia, 570.5; 6. Brown, 536; 7. Penn, 464; 8. Cornell, 452.5; 9. Dartmouth, 202